Graduate

Master’s Degree

As the only graduate program of its kind in the state, the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Master of Arts in Spanish attracts international, national, and local students who are interested in a comprehensive program of study including courses in literature, linguistics, translation and cultural studies and film that focus on Spain, Latin America, and the Latino U.S. The faculty of the Division of Spanish and Latin American and Iberian Studies has developed a graduate curriculum that has systematically been updated to reflect national trends and to address student needs and interests. The Spanish MA trains language instructors who work at all levels of education; it prepares graduates to offer linguistic and translation support for businesses, immigration services, and tourism; and it offers a platform from which students and faculty serve as liaisons between Hawai‘i’s growing Hispanic community (approximately 121,000), the university, and the state. The high quality of our MA graduates, who receive national and local recognition for their academic and research endeavors, is attested to by their routine acceptance into the most prestigious Ph.D. programs in the nation and their great success in finding teaching positions in first-rate schools and colleges.

SLOs

At the end of the MA program students will be able to:

  • SLO 1 Demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish for professional
    purposes.
  • SLO 2 Critically analyze, synthesize, and utilize information related to Hispanic literary,
    cultural, or linguistic fields.
  • SLO 3 Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of Hispanic literature, and one of the following: linguistics, cultural studies, film, translation, U.S. Latino studies.
  • SLO 4 (Teaching Assistants only) Demonstrate familiarity with current L2 teaching methodologies, language learning technologies and practices.

Admission Requirements

In addition to meeting the requirements of the Graduate Division, applicants must have the following:

  1. A major or its equivalent in the chosen area of concentration with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (B);
  2. The competence equivalent to two years of study at the college level in a second foreign language.

Applicants with minor deficiencies may be accepted provisionally, but coursework taken to make up deficiencies may not be counted toward satisfaction of the degree requirements. Applicants accepted provisionally are expected to complete any deficiencies by the end of the first year of study.

All students are required to satisfy the remaining specific requirements and to pass the comprehensive examinations in their area of concentration.

Students who select Plan A (thesis) in their area of concentration must present a thesis proposal, including justification of the topic and a bibliography, for approval by the thesis director and two members of the thesis committee before the end of the second semester of work. The completed thesis must be presented to the thesis committee at least four weeks before the Graduate Division deadline. The Graduate Division requires all theses to be written in English.

Spanish Requirement

Candidates in Spanish may select Plan A (thesis) or Plan B (non-thesis). Candidates in both plans are required to take 30 credit hours. A minimum of 18 of these credits must be numbered 600 and above, including at least one graduate seminar. Candidates selecting Plan A (thesis) must complete 6 credit hours of LLEA 700 (Thesis Research). Spanish graduate assistants are also required to take a course in language teaching methodology approved by the Spanish graduate faculty (e.g., SPAN 658 [Seminar in Spanish Linguistics] or LLL 455 [Second Language Learning and Technology]) during their first year of coursework. Candidates of both plans must pass a final comprehensive examination in literature (Peninsular and Latin American) and in one additional area (language, film studies, Latino Studies, or cultural studies). The examination is based on the minimum reading list and is tailored to fit the background and coursework of the individual candidates.

Students who select Plan A (thesis) in their area of concentration must present a thesis proposal, including justification of the topic and a bibliography, for approval by the thesis director and two members of the thesis committee before the end of the second semester of work. The completed thesis must be presented to the thesis committee at least four weeks before the Graduate Division deadline. The Graduate Division requires all theses to be written in English.

Graduate Assistantship

To apply for a Graduate Assistantship, you must be admitted to our Master’s Program. Please click on Graduate Application to go to the Office of Graduate Education: Graduate Application

You must have Acrobat Reader to open the form fillable Graduate Assistantship Application. If you don’t have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free. Adobe Reader

For the Graduate Assistantship application, click on the link below. Fill out the form, and upload it at the Office of Graduate Education Supplemental Documents Upload site. For information on how to use the site, please click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUwwvtT6oqE

Please request a letter of recommendation from three references. You may submit your request for recommendations directly from the Office of Graduate Education Admission site.

 

NEW!!
Advanced Graduate Certificate in SLS – Spanish Applied Linguistics

Learning Outcomes

Since the AGC is designed to provide individually tailored programs of study, student learning outcomes will vary considerably from one student to the next. In general, students who complete the track of the AGC SLS/ will acquire contemporary knowledge and skills in topics and issues related to: Spanish second language analysis, learning, pedagogy, and use; 2. Utilization of research findings; 3. Application of research methods.

More specifically, a graduate from the AGC SLS/Spanish will:
1. Demonstrate familiarity with topics and concepts specific to their particular interests in the field of Spanish Applied Language Studies
2. Demonstrate the ability to engage in systematic investigation of topics and concepts to inform their own and others’ practices
 in societal domains in which Spanish is used, learned, and taught;
3. Enhance their prospects for employment and advanced academic study.

Admissions

The requirements for admission are the same as for the AGC in SLS, see http://www.hawaii.edu/sls/sls/admissions/agc/.

Applicants to the AGC in SLS /Spanish must have completed a master’s or doctoral degree in an appropriate field, or they must be currently enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program in an appropriate field at the University of Hawai‘i. Appropriate fields include but are not limited to second language studies, applied linguistics, foreign language education, second language acquisition, or Spanish studies. Applicants must also demonstrate adequate proficiency in Spanish. Speakers of Spanish as a second language fulfill this requirement with an M.A. degree in Spanish, a minimum score of 550 in the S-CAPE Spanish exam, or equivalent, such as an exam administered by the Spanish Division in LLEA.

Number of Credits

Students must complete fifteen units of relevant graduate coursework, approved by the student’s AGC SLS/Spanish advisor.

The existing AGC in SLS is flexibly tailored to the academic and professional goals of the individual student and does not require a prespecified set of courses (Students must complete 15 units of relevant graduate coursework, approved by the student’s advisor.

No more than 9 credits that are counted toward the AGC SLS/Spanish may be counted toward another degree.
The requirements are:
– Two graduate courses in Spanish studies (linguistics or applied linguistics),
– Two graduate courses in SLS (second language analysis, second language use, second language learning, second language education, research methods)
– One graduate course relevant to the Scholarly Paper.
Of the five graduate courses, at least one should be a 700 level seminar.
Up to 6 credits can be at the 400 level for the Spanish Applied Linguistics track if approved by student’s advisor.

Classes

All SLS courses at 600 and 700 level may be selected. Examples of eligible courses from Spanish include Span 658 Spanish Applied Linguistics, Span 653 Spanish Dialectology, Span 400 Spanish Pragmatics, Span 451 Historical Spanish Linguistics, Span 452 Spanish Linguistics. The graduate course relevant to the Scholarly Paper may be selected from the graduate courses in SLS, the graduate courses in Spanish listed above, or from another discipline, such as Anthropology, Education, Linguistics, or Psychology.

Exit Requirements

Scholarly Paper, typically a publishable, journal article-length research report. In the proposed specialization, the Scholarly Paper will report on a study in Spanish applied linguistics. In accordance with the requirements of the School of Graduate Education, the report will be written in English. It will be assessed by a graduate faculty member in Spanish and a graduate faculty member in SLS.

Contact

Gabriele Kasper, Graduate Chair SLS (gkasper@hawaii.edu)
Marta González-Lloret, Certificate Advisor (marta@hawaii.edu)

If you need further information regarding our program, please contact the following advisor:

Division Advisor Phone No. Office E-mail Address
Spanish Dr. Joy Logan (808) 956‑4163 Moore 488 logan@hawaii.edu